Water-meter.



L. VAN,GILDER I WATER. METER. APPLICATION FILED AUG.I0, 1914.

1, M6fi74. Patented m 13, 1915.

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WATER METER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10. 1914.

1,146,674. I Patented July 13, 1915.

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LINCOLN VAN GILDEE, 0F VENTNOR, NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

WATER-METER.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed August 10, 1914. Serial N 0. 856,098.

adverse conditions of use, and whose co-efficient of friction shallremain constant regardless of the moisture or corroslvegases to whichthe meter as a whole may be exposed. p

I further desire that the meter shall be so made and equipped that theunder-side of its glass face plate shall not become clouded by moistureor vapor, nor the diaLplate be rendered illegible or affected bystaining or corrosion; the arrangement of parts being such that themeter as a whole may be submerged in water without injury.

These objects androther advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter setforth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a vertical section of that part of the meter including theregister box, showing it as constructed according to my invention; Fig.2 is.a fragmentary vertical section of a slightly modified form of theinvention, and Fig. 3 is an elevation partly in section of a metershowing my invention as applied in a manner different from that shown inFig. 1.

In carrying out my invention, I prefer- .ably construct the registercasing as shown in Fig. 1, on the top of the main meter structure, andfor convenience of manufacture,

usually though not necessarily, make it in two parts 1 and 2, connectedtogether in any desired manner so as to be air-tight at their point ofjunction.-

A spindle 3 driven bythe meter mechanism and passing through a stuflingbox 4 into the register casingdrives any suitable form of registeringmechanism, part of which is indicated at 5; the dial plate being shownat 6. The part of the casing 2 is provided with a glass or, othertransparent plate 7 whichmakes an air tight joint with said part, and isprovided with the ordinary protective cover plate 8. At one side it alsohas a filling opening normallyclosed by a plug 9, so that the registercasing as a whole 1s air and liquid tight except for a pipe or conduit10 connected to its bottom part through a passage 11, and extendingupwardly so that its top terminates at a level slightly above orimmediately adjacent the level of the top surface of the dial plate 6.If desired, instead of providing a separate pipe 10 in connection withthe passage 11, the latter may be extended upwardly as. shown at 11within the wall structure of the casing and continued in the part' 2thereof. The casing is then filled with oil or other lubricant of aspecific gravity less than that of water, and of such composition thatit will not mix with water. It mustalso be non-corrosive, limpid at alltemperatures above freezing, and preferably transparent.

In filling the casing, the end of the pipe 10 is temporarily plugged orclosed and said casing is laid on its side so that the oil or otherliquid may be introduced through the opening ordinarily closed by theplug 9. The liquid may be used in such an amount that after the plug 9has been replaced and thecasing returned to its usual horizontalposition, the liquid level is at or adjacent the top surface of the dialplate, although if desired the casing may be completely filled. Underoperating conditions it will be seen that the register mechanism willnaturally be perfectly lubricated as it is immersed in the liquid and iscompletely protected from corrosion or effects of moisture,-it beingobvious that if it be desired that the casing shall be completely filledwith oil, the pipe 10 is extended sufiiciently to bring its upperquantities of water entering the casing through the stufling box areforced into the pipe and finally caused to overflow the upper end of thesame without in any way casing l2 into the main compartment of the meterby the suction action of the liquid currents in the latter, nor can anysolid material enter the said casing.

With the above described arrangement of parts the casing 12 may befilled with oil preparatory to shipping the .meter from a factory orstore room and the pipe 10 or passage 11 plugged. Upon arriving at itsdestination and being set up for service, the removal of such plug fromthe pipe or passage, will permit of the above described operation, itbeing noted that the accumulation of any large body of water in thecasing is effectually prevented since by reason of the fact that the oilis trapped in the latter such water is necessarily passed into and isdischarged from the conduit formed by the pipe 10 or passage 11 In somecases as for example where the water has a corrosive action on themechanism of the meter, I provide means whereby all of the gearing isarranged to operate in oil and for this'purpose I place a stuffing box13, aroundthemain spindle 14: where it passes through the partitionbetween the chamber containing the water actuated member and the gearingof the meter. With this arrangement the vent pipe. 10 leads from a pointadjacent the lowest part of the gear chamber 12 to a point at or adjacent the level of the top of the dial plate 6. In the partitionseparating this gear chamber 12 from the register chamber 15 I may asbefore provide, a stufiing box -1-to prevent circulation or leakage ofoil between the same. Ordinarily, however, when the stuffingbox 13 isemployed, the stuliing box 4 would be omitted, and in any case the meterwould be filled with oil above the partition 16 separating the chamber17 contain ing the actuating mechanism from the gear chamber 12, so thatits top surface is at a level slightly above the dial plate 6. The maingearing as well as the register mechanism proper will therefore be atall times immersed in oil and as before, any water leaking past thestuffing box 13 will neces sarily be discharged through the vent pipe l0without in any way affecting the gearing orother mechanism of the meteror disturbing the; oil in the casing.

I claim 1. The combination in a meter of a liquid I plate; registeringmechanism having a driving member extending into the casing; a stuffingbox forsaid driving member; a conduit extending from the bottom of thecasing upwardly to a point adjacent the top thereof and a body oftransparent lubricating material in the casing.

3. The combination in a meter of a main casing; a liquid tight casingmounted on the main casing, having a normally closed filling opening anda transparent face plate; an overflow conduit opening into the bottom ofsaid second casing, and extending upwardly for a distance suflicient tobring its outlet substantially to the level of the top of said casing; adriving member extending from the maincasing into said second casing;registering mechanism connected to .said driving member in said casing;and a body of transparent lubricant trapped in the second casing by saidoverflow pipe.

1. The combination in a meter. of the main casingand an auxiliarycasing, the latter being providedv with an overflow conduit formed inits wall, opening into its lower portion and having an outlet at a leveladjacent the topv of said auxiliary casing; and a body of transparentlubricating liquid trapped in the auxiliary casing by said conduit.

5. The combination in a meter of a casing; a partition dividing saidcasing into chambers; a driven spindle extending through said partition;a stufiing box for the spindle placed to prevent leakage through thepartition; registering mechanism; gearing mounted in the chamber abovethe partition and operatively connecting said. spindle with theregistering mechanism; a body of oil filling the casing above thepartition; and an overflow conduit ex-- tending from'the gear containingchamber to a point at least as highv as the dial of the registeringmechanism.

6. The combinationin a meter of a casmg; partitions dividing said casinginto chambers; gearing 1n the chamber between said partitions;registering mechanism between one of the partitions and the upper partof the casing; a driven shaft extending through the bottom partition andactuating said gearing; a second shaft passing throqgh' V name to thisspecification in the presence of the seconddpartition and connecting thetwo subscribing Witnesses.

earin an the re isterin 'mec anism; T v s tuffing boxes for the shaftsin the paxgti- COLN VAN GILDER 5 tions; and ELibOdy ofoil fillingthecasing 1 Witnesses:

above the bottom partition. 7 CLARENCE KREUTZ,

In testimony whereof, I have signed my CHARLES E. JACKSON.

